Tag «conspiracy theory»

Single Sundays: While this blog may be focused on reviewing book series as a whole, we can’t forget about the good ole’ standalone novel! On Sundays, I will review a novel that is considered to be a standalone novel. Here is this week’s offering:

Synopsis for Daughter of Deep Silence(from Goodreads):

I’m the daughter of murdered parents. I’m the friend of a dead girl. I’m the lover of my enemy. And I will have my revenge.

In the wake of the devastating destruction of the luxury yacht Persephone, just three souls remain to tell its story—and two of them are lying. Only Frances Mace knows the terrifying truth, and she’ll stop at nothing to avenge the murders of everyone she held dear. Even if it means taking down the boy she loves and possibly losing herself in the process.

Sharp and incisive, Daughter of Deep Silence by bestselling author Carrie Ryan is a deliciously smart revenge thriller that examines perceptions of identity, love, and the lengths to which one girl is willing to go when she thinks she has nothing to lose.

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

Did you read that synopsis? I love a good revenge story. I just love the suspense and the anticipation that comes from righting the wrongs of the past. I also love a good conspiracy theory and this sounded like it had the potential to be great.

Also, it really reminded me of the TV show Revenge which I loved in the first season…and not so much later on. But, again, I loved the whole idea so I couldn’t wait to listen!

The Plot:

Have you ever read a book where you build up the big reveal to be this big epic thing only to find out that the truth is much less enthralling? That’s exactly what happened here for me. I built this book up to be something else and in the end, I was left disappointed.

Let’s start with the revenge plot. The positive is that I like how everything gets started. I found the introduction to be thrilling and captured my attention. Learning what has happened to Frances and how she plans to learn the truth was great.

The unfortunate thing is that this book takes far to long to get things into motion. At the 50% Frances has maybe done 2 things to get her plan in motion and–while original–weren’t all that exciting. And for all her efforts, she really hasn’t learnt anything either. We don’t get an inkling of what the actual conspiracy is until the 72% mark so I couldn’t put the pieces together myself until that moment (and it gets a little spewed out all at once anyways).

Instead, the book focuses on Frances’ internal struggle to keep up her charade and enact her revenge. And I get why, she’s dealing with some heavy stuff and frankly, if she wasn’t conflicted about it I would worry for her sanity (though I do enjoy a dark heroine with no remorse on occasion). But, I find her worries become monotonous after awhile and I grew bored listening to her lament on and on about it all.

The Characters:

None of these characters are overly impressive to me.

As I said above, I can appreciate Frances’ struggle with what she is doing. Her struggle to maintain her true identity through it all is endearing. Everything is building up yet crumbling around her and it’s an interesting situation for a heroine to find herself in.

The Romance:

I knew pretty early on that I wasn’t going to be a fan of this given the circumstances. It’s young puppy love that gets built up into something more grandiose than it is because of the situation. Thankfully, it’s not a huge focus of the book. Rather, it is used as a device to move the plot forward and it’s utilized well enough when all is said an done.

My Audiobook Experience:

The audiobook was a great choice I think. I love how emotions are conveyed through audio and it helped me bring the story to life. I will admit that as my interested waned in the actual story I did bump the speed up to 1.25X and eventually 1.5X just to get things to go a little faster.

My Rating: 3/5

This book has a lot of potential but I felt like the focus wasn’t on what I wanted it to be. Instead we get a story more about the struggle for identity and what it means to need revenge than the actual taking of revenge. It entertained me but I didn’t love it by any means.

Read if You Like: more character based storiesAvoid if You: want a more thrilling revenge seeking story

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

Synopsis for The Conspiracy of Us (from Goodreads):

A fast-paced international escapade, laced with adrenaline, glamour, and romance–perfect for fans of Ally Carter

Avery West’s newfound family can shut down Prada when they want to shop in peace, and can just as easily order a bombing when they want to start a war. Part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle, they believe Avery is the key to an ancient prophecy. Some want to use her as a pawn. Some want her dead.

To unravel the mystery putting her life in danger, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the monuments of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul with two boys who work for the Circle—beautiful, volatile Stellan and mysterious, magnetic Jack. But as the clues expose a stunning conspiracy that might plunge the world into World War 3, she discovers that both boys are hiding secrets of their own. Now she will have to choose not only between freedom and family–but between the boy who might help her save the world, and the one she’s falling in love with.

**This post was originally posted as a Fresh Friday review of the first book of the series. It has now been updated to include the newest publications in the series.**

Why I Picked The Conspiracy of Us Up:

What drew me to this book was the cover, but what made me want to read it was the hook that it was “perfect for fans of Ally Carter”. It’s no secret that I fall prey to these every-time; especially when they are for Ally Carter. Let me explain why: Ally Carter is one of my favourite authors because I love her strong heroines and the suspense of her novels. While Gallagher Girls started off more light-hearted and fun, it definitely became more intricate in the plot later on; whereas Heist Society always seemed more tense and serious to me right from the start. Most of the time when books say they are perfect for Ally Carter fans they are referring more to the style of Heist Society–which I liked but didn’t really love–and how it is intricate right form the get-go. Which is fine because I’m still looking for that perfect heist novel, but I can’t wait until I find a book with the same flare as the Gallagher Girls Series.

The Concept:

Regardless, The Conspiracy of Us is its own novel. The premise reminded me a bit of the slightly darker novel The Book of Blood and Shadow–a book I thought had a great premise but a poor execution.

For the most part The Conspiracy of Us had a good execution. However, it was difficult for me to get past the idea that Avery literally jumps on a plane to travel across the world with two boys she barely knows without any hesitation. I understand that this event had to happen to get the story in motion; and to a certain degree I could see why she would jump at the first chance she gets to any information about her unknown family past. But, I just wanted to see a few lines about her concerns or why it could potentially be a bad idea. It just frustrated me because, for the most part, I felt like she was a rational character with everything else that happens in the book.

The Plot:

The book is pretty slow until you get about half-way through. That’s when the clues start to come into play and the pace of the book picks up exponentially. Which is why I am giving the book a 3.5 instead of a solid 4 because that first half of the book really didn’t do much story-wise and felt a little unnecessary.

While some of the events are cliche to a mystery novel, I thought the whole prophecy/mystery bit was a lot of fun. There were a lot of little unexpected twists that accompanied it and that made me excited to continue reading. It actually reminded me a lot of a Young Adult version of Juliet by Anne Fortier in terms of its execution (though the plots are completely different!).

My Expectations for the Rest of the Series:

I’m looking forward to the sequel but I am not dying to pick it up.

–May 9, 2018– Book #2: Map of Fates

Yikes! This book was a complete miss for me. I probably should have DNF’d it but the whole prophecy thing has got me invested (even though I knew the solution very early on). I felt like this book spend far too much time on the mundane. The constant back and forth for Avery’s love life was exhausting and not enjoyable in the slightest. I will say that there were some good twists along the way but they don’t get a ton of screen time in the long run so this made for a duller read.

At first I thought it was the fact that I was listening to the audio version and the narrator is one of my least favourite to listen to. However, I actually thought she did a great job so I can’t really complain about that aspect.

–May 23, 2018– Book #3: The Ends of the World

My reading experience here was much more positive than the previous. I thought this book started with a “bang” and had great momentum…up until the halfway point when we seem to reiterate the same romance themes again and again. By this point, I had warmed up to the romance a little more but I did find the scenes to be tiresome as they distracted from the thrilling plot line.

There were some good twists along the way and I did like how everything wrapped up so it’s a solid finale when all is said and done.

Series Rating: 3/5

The Conspiracy of Us 3.5/5 | Map of Fates 2/5 | The Ends of the World 3/5

A unique premise to be sure but this series just gets too caught up in its other factors, dampening the reading experience.